Archive By Section - Opinion

Georgians will be asked to make many important decisions on Nov. 2. Federal, state and local leaders are all asking for support, communities are deciding local issues, and there will be a number of statewide referenda on which to vote.

Richard Nixon famously had his "madman theory" during the Vietnam War. He wanted the North Vietnamese to believe he was irrational (not such a stretch, as it turned out) and ready to do anything to end the war. Faced with this dangerous lunatic, the North Vietnamese would beg for peace.

I was in greater downtown Brunswick the other day and came upon a newly installed four-way stop situation at the corner of 4th Street and Hampton - or as we call it "The Hospital Road." The road you turn on when you have an appointment with one of the numerous medical professionals who have set up camp around the South East Georgia Regional Health Center. There is an "ologist" under every rock.

Nationally, and here in Georgia, the rate of uninsured residents worsened yet again in 2009. More than one in five Georgians lacked health coverage in 2008 and 2009 (20.9 percent of the population), according to the new Census Bureau data released today. This represents an increase from the pre-recession years of 2006-2007, when 19.2 percent of Georgians went without coverage. (The Census Bureau averages two years of survey data in order to improve the reliability of the estimates.)

Occasionally someone comes out of the woodwork, or in this case the palmettos, and causes a stir heard around the world. And so some fringe preacher from Florida declares that he will burn a Koran, and the next thing we know, it's the biggest news story of the day. Heads of state and generals had to stop what they were doing to ask that he please not do this.

Who is trapped in a deeper, more inaccessible bunker? The 33 Chilean miners getting food, water and messages from the outside world through a tiny borehole, or Rahm Emanuel and the fellas at the White House who have apparently not yet received word that the American public is summoning itself for a shattering rejection of the administration's spending?

Most of us who have lived through historic moments can recall with some clarity where we were and what we were doing on those days, and Sept. 11, 2001, is no different. But it's often the case that the details tend to get a little fuzzy as time passes.

For almost three years now the press has been full of descriptions of a "great recession," "financial meltdown" and "economic disaster." The reports of banks closing, pictures of long lines of unemployed and tragedy of people losing their homes through foreclosure persuade many that this country is in dire straits, suffering now and in danger of future bankruptcy.

Americans are facing a troubling reality. The economic recovery they were promised has not materialized. There's growing talk about a "new normal"-a new way of life to take us through a long period of failed recoveries.

In all the hubbub over the construction of a mosque at Ground Zero in New York City as a reciprocal gesture of friendship to Muslims who have agreed to build the Ali Khamenei Baptist Tabernacle in downtown Tehran, you may have missed the latest debate between Georgia's gubernatorial candidates sponsored by the Yarbrough Worldwide Media and Pest Control Company, located in a pool hall in Greater Garfield, Georgia.

Articles by Section - Opinion

Last weekend, as I introduced President Barack Obama on the steps of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, I was overcome with emotions. Of course, I reflected on how far we have come over the past 50 years. But one thought could not escape my mind: Those who fight to make it harder to vote don't know what it's like to be kicked, clubbed and beaten for the simple right to cast a ballot.

It is with regret I tell you that our intrepid public servants in the Legislature have scuttled a bill that would have lowered the age of eligibility to serve as a member of the House of Representatives to 18 years of age and to 21 in the State Senate.

Editor, For decades, students at the traditional public schools in Georgia have been denied the chance to win a state championship because the system overseen by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) ignores the fact that there is no parity among traditional public schools, private schools and city schools.